Processes for conveying fluid from a pressurized fluid source through a fluid-dispensing sprinkler are known. In a typical practice, fluid pressurized by a pump is conveyed from a supply pipe through a riser assembly and expelled through a sprinkler. Various means for controlling expulsion of fluid through a sprinkler have been utilized. These means for controlling fluid expulsion include associating a control valve with the sprinkler, associating a control valve with the riser assembly or associating a control valve with an intermediate connector between the riser assembly and the sprinkler. A wire or other signal carrier may convey a signal to a signal processor that then processes the signal and influences movement of the control valve to control fluid expelled.
The installation, maintenance, removal, and transport of a conventional riser assembly can present a number of challenges. Particularly in the case of riser assemblies used with high-output directional sprinklers, a first set of challenges arises from the fact that expulsion of fluid through the sprinkler can exert significant and potentially-destabilizing forces upon the riser assembly. This challenge is compounded where such forces may be exerted from varying angular or lateral directions as, for example, in the case of a riser assembly used with a powerful rotary sprinkler.
Another set of challenges arises from temperature variations, precipitation and other environmental conditions encountered in the often-rugged outdoor settings where a riser assembly is used. These environmental conditions can pose a challenge not only to the riser assembly itself but additionally to functional elements operatively connectable with the riser assembly and, particularly, to wires and other signal carriers, signal processors, and control valves.
Past approaches to address the foregoing challenges have been proposed. One such approach involves the burial of all or most of the riser assembly in soil or other ground material. In addition to burial of the riser assembly in the ground, approaches for stabilizing a riser assembly include encasement of the riser assembly within a concrete pier or the attachment of the riser assembly to materials that either are not removable or are not easily removable without damaging the riser assembly. Such attempts to stabilize riser assemblies have typically resulted in assemblies that are: (1) complicated, difficult, expensive, and time consuming to install and maintain, and (2) complicated, difficult, expensive, or even impossible to remove, transport, and reinstall. For example, installation of such conventional risers often requires digging, drilling, cutting, grinding, beveling, welding, screwing, gluing, tarring, and pouring concrete. This often requires the use of numerous man hours and varying types of tools and pieces of equipment. Where conventional risers are secured using poured concrete, in particular, the concrete often needs to be allowed to solidify before the riser can be utilized, and breaking apart the concrete to try to remove the conventional riser can lead to damage to the riser itself.